Wicker Nights
by BellonaBellatrix
Summary: A darker version of Mrs. Lovegood's death. Warnings: dark subject matter


Disclaimer: All characters belong to J.K. Rowling. Credits for quotes at the end. :-)

Notes: This is the beginning of a dark story, and will contain character death and dark subject matter (froms of abuse). So this is a definitely a warning.

Summary: Another story behind Mrs. Lovegood's death...

&&&

"Can't I go too?" Ginny asked for the tenth time. "I'll be really, really quiet, I promise. Cross my heart."

Her father chuckled, looking over his shoulder at his disgruntled daughter. She was dragging her sleepover bag despondently behind her, kicking up dust with her feet. Her face was properly covered with a reddish glaze, except for the area under her chin which had been spared from the dust storm due to her pouting.

"Ginny, we've been planning this outing for weeks. You were excited to stay behind."

"That's when I thought I was staying at home alone, like a grown-up. I'm too old for a babysitter!"

The road to the Lovegood's home was not well-traveled. Arthur knew the family valued their privacy. Mr. Lovegood was an ex-Auror trying to get his paper started, and Mrs. Lovegood was rumored to be quite eccentric. However, Arthur remembered Artemus from better times.

"The little girl will be quite disappointed if you don't show up, dear," he reminded her. "Think of this as an opportunity to make a new friend."

Ginny drug her feet and scowled, letting her bag full of freshly washed clothes hit every fence post they pasted. Then, something occurred to her in a flash of inspiration.

She coughed.

Her father continued on his way, looking at the Muggle houses in the distance.

She coughed again, and stopped where she was, leaning against the fence. She imagined that she was deathly ill… a brave little girl trying to obey her father's wishes, but try as she might, the sickness was catching up to her. And only a few steps away from their destination.

"Daddy…" she called out, squinting to see him clearly. "Daddy, I don't feel so well. I'm all shaky."

She put her forehead against the cool timber of the fence, and waited. He paused, and she was content. Then he picked her up and grabbed the sleepover bag.

"NO!"

"Now, Ginny, this is not grown-up behavior," Arthur said sharply, looking around to see if anyone was watching this spectacle. "If you want to be respected as an adult, you have to earn it."

"I am sick, and I shall die a horrible death, and you will be sorry!" she announced. Her father was unmoved.

Ginny looked over his shoulder morosely, wondering if she should try to cry a little. Would that work?

"Here we are. This looks like a great place to have some adventures."

She refused to look, and buried her face into his shoulder.

"I thought I heard you coming," an amused voice said from the direction of the house.

"She's just a little tired from all the excitement," her father said, patting her back. It was a warning pat, she just knew it. It made her determined never to lift her head again.

Then, there was a soft gasp from the ground, and Ginny peeked over her father's shoulder, trusting her hair to hide her glance. A little, blonde girl was staring at her, all eyes.

"Daddy, look," the girl said, as if seeking to confirm that Ginny's presence was real.

"And you must be Luna," Arthur said, smiling.

The girl did not respond to him as she found Ginny much more interesting.

"Can you put her down?" Luna asked. "I want to see her."

Suddenly, Ginny found herself on even footing with the strange girl, who watched her descent with rapt attention. She felt as though she was a very disappointing Christmas present, and leaned into her father's leg, not willing to abandon her last form of security.

"Make her talk," Luna demanded. Arthur blinked in surprise.

"Now, now, Luna. Forced conversation is usually very boring, you know," Mr. Lovegood said, coming to stand next to his daughter and joining her in staring. "Same thing each time…that's why most lose me at hello."

"Didn't I say hello to you once?" Arthur asked out of curiosity.

"You're the exception. Is your daughter very shy? Have to say we were expecting the standard Weasley zip."

"Can't I go with you?" Ginny whispered up to her father, who studiously ignored her.

"Where's your wife, Art?"

"Old Nessie's been busy, as of late. Just got in a new shipment of artifacts for her to de-curse."

"You married the Loch Ness monster?!" Ginny exclaimed, more worried than ever.

Mr. Lovegood laughed. "She does disappear every once and a while, to go for a swim, and then the bed sheets smell like an old marsh. But there's isn't much to eat around here, mind. Not that many people go swimming, nowadays."

"Mrs. Lovegood's name is Nessidora," Arthur explained, placing a hand on Ginny's head protectively. "And I assure you, she's entirely human."

"Of course, we all know how a human cannot possibly be a monster…Oh, I'm just playing around with you, Gin," Mr. Lovegood said. "She's not that bad, she's worse! So, Arthur, want a drink before you go?"

"Well, I could use one about now."

Ginny watched her father disappear inside the house with Mr. Lovegood and realized she was alone with Luna, who seemed determined that Ginny would be the one to speak first.

"Um, I like your house," she offered.

"I hate it," the girl said, smiling. Ginny realized that the girl was being contrary on purpose, and it made her angry.

"It's beautiful."

"It's ugly."

"You're right. It stinks."

"I don't smell anything. Except you."

Ginny clenched her fists. The girl kept smiling warmly. "Sometimes really pretty things stink. For no one touches them, because they are pretty. So they sort of smell bad after a spell, don't you think? Like an apple? You're pretty."

Out of spite, Ginny would have said the girl was hideous, but the fact was that while the girl was certainly odd, her appearance was much stranger. Her hair was in tangles of blond, with traces of leaves and old ribbons, and she was very pale. Her clothing was made up of a motley assortment of colors that were never meant to be next to each other.

"Then don't touch me," she said.

"But then you'd stink. Perhaps the smell will attack interesting creatures, though. Can we be friends? I've never had a real, live friend before."

"Really?" Ginny asked, surprised.

"I've had imaginary friends. What about you, do you have friends?"

"I have brothers," she said, shrugging.

"Built-in friends!" Luna exclaimed happily.

"Built-in bothers," Ginny corrected. "So, you're lucky that you don't have any siblings."

"How can you tell that I don't?"

"I just can. I suppose we can be friends, but a real friend isn't like an imaginary friend. I won't do everything you say, you know."

"They usually don't," Luna said, but moved closer. She recognized someone who had never had an imaginary friend in her short life and wouldn't understand that there were other worlds built within the mind and the eyes. In the end, she was by far the more traveled one, and in the end, the less friendless. Naturally, it made Luna feel like the leader. "We don't have to be nice to each other if we are sisters, then?"

Ginny shrugged.

"Then you are my sister."

"We have to share blood, at the very least."

"All right! I know how to do that! Tonight, I will show you the cave, in the woods. It's a special place, and we can become proper sisters there!"

A cave sounded interesting indeed on this sunny, warm day, out in the open, where everyone can see. So far the other way, that it might as well be imaginary. Ginny began to think this seven-day stay wouldn't be so terribly bad after all.

&&&

Mr. Lovegood retreated into his study shortly after Mr. Weasley had left, and though the Lovegood home was very large, it was also very small, apparently. Luna took her hand and gave her a tour, pointing out the different areas of the house.

One area was very strange. All the lights were out in the upper level of the house. There wasn't a candle to be seen in the winding staircase, and the light in the window was blocked off by small bits of paper, giving the whole floor the effect of a Japanese lantern.

"Why is it so dark up here?" Ginny whispered.

"It helps mum think. She thinks on very important things," Luna said proudly. "She's extra ordinary."

"You mean extraordinary, don't you? Because extra ordinary would mean she's really pretty ordinary."

Luna looked aggrieved, and Ginny felt sorry. "Um, what does your mum do?"

"My mother brings things to light that people have tried to cover up. It's not easy, not easy at all. She finds out what makes things tick like they do, too!"

"So she sits in the dark all day?"

"Her eyes have to adjust to see darkness, you know."

Ginny had learned all there was to know about this household in the first few minutes of being here. Perhaps the people inside had no clue, but that was the advantage and curse of being an outsider. Mr. Lovegood was good at telling a story but once the story was over, the book was closed and shelved, remote in the way that it was on the top shelf just out of reach. Yet he wasn't unkind, only really responding when you spoke in his language of metaphors and disturbing truths (that never applied to him, don't you know?)

However, even now, this upper area of the house was remote and cold. It fed the imagination through the darkness, where really, the only thing that was visible was what was inside of you. Naturally you had to look inwardly, or else see things that aren't real creep along the floor in the shadows. And naturally, Ginny did not wish to make Mrs. Lovegood's acquaintance, if the house was a reflection of the woman herself.

As if reading her mind, Luna informed her that Mrs. Lovegood always came downstairs to sit in the parlor at night. Ginny still didn't know what to make of Luna.

&&&

"We should dress up for something like this," Luna observed, looking over the robes in the small closet idly. "Not white. Not one wit of white, that won't do."

Ginny was getting used to nodding as if she understood. But that was half the fun of this, that it would end within the week. However, if she had to live here forever, she'd be much more concerned.

"But then again, it may be the most appropriate attire."

"You know, let's dress up as animals. We are going into the forest, after all."

Luna stared solemnly. "What sort of animal?"

"I can be a cat, and you—you can be a raccoon."

"Why a raccoon?"

Ginny was going to say that she had deep circles under her eyes, so thus, a raccoon, but she merely shrugged again. "Just because. Don't you want a tail?"

They gathered old scarves and tied them together, and soon, both of them had tails. After digging through old makeup that Mrs. Lovegood had long since discarded, Luna painted Ginny's whiskers on with painful precision, sticking her tongue out in thought and pressing too hard with the lipstick.

In general, Ginny found that Luna tried too hard. When trying to understand something, she would take it apart in her mind, when it really wasn't necessary. The simplest of phrases—some Ginny heard everyday—were lost on her. But Ginny didn't mind, and was still while Luna applied and re-applied the whiskers. She felt like she had war paint on her face, and suddenly, this was all very important.

This was also the first time she had ever been away from her family for so long. Tonight, she was a woman now. She sat up straighter, and drew circles around Luna's eyes. Really, her father had told her that Muggles were both lucky and tragic. If only they were to stumble upon magic after being in the dark so long—imagine what that must feel like, if only it could happen to a wizard. Imagine believing in magic without ever seeing it.

Tonight, something new was going to happen because they were the only two people left in the world. That had to count for something. She could believe it.

"Perfect," Ginny said, admiring her handiwork.

"Wait, one more thing!" Luna cried, rushing to the door, holding her finger to her lips, even though she had just shouted. Ginny waited for her to return, listening to her footfalls further down in the home, and picking lint off the old outfits.

When Luna returned, she held up two wands.

"Now it's perfect."

"Oh." Ginny was unsure. She was taught never to touch a wand unsupervised. Without caring about her future sister's hesitation, Luna spun Ginny around and quickly pulled the girl's red hair in a messy bun, adding the wand as a hair piece. Since this was forbidden, it was irresistible. She would itch and itch for the opportunity to happen again, when her parents were far away, and she would regret not doing it.

Luna put up her own hair, all the while smiling a mischevious smile.

"Since this is my house, I picked this wand for myself. Mum said it was special, and never to touch it."

Ginny understood the appeal. They crept down the stairs, imagining each step was booming, and that every shadow was Mr. Lovegood descending on them, angry. She never dared to imagine Mrs. Lovegood.

Once outside, they were free.

It was a beautiful night. Ginny had never really gone outside to look at the stars. They had always been there, she had taken them for granted, but something was working its magic on her, and she could imagine—imagine—not knowing the stars at all. Then seeing them for the first time. She shrieked and whooped, and screamed Luna half to death.

They started running towards the meadow, to where the forest was. She enjoyed the sound of the grass under her feet and the silence of someone telling her not to. Luna spread out her arms, letting the overly large robes fly out from behind her like wings. Ginny thought if Luna felt joy, it would always be underneath the surface. She decided to make that different for tonight, as a sister. She growled under her breath, pretending to be a cat, and play attack the other girl, displaying her fingers as claws.

At first, Luna stiffened, as someone unused to physical play, but she adapted, having claws of her own. They fought in the meadow, shrieking and laughing, and sometimes one would hide from the other, stalking through the high grass. The moon was high in the sky by the time they remembered the original goal.

"My father said that the cave belongs to us. It's been in the family since forever."

Ginny doubted one can own a cave, officially, and smiled at Luna's back, shaking her head. They moved through the woods, and she reminded herself there was nothing truly dangerous in woods near Muggles. Muggles always kill the dangerous things for sport, her father told her. So there was nothing, and should be nothing, and if she thought on it too hard, something will happen. She tried to get Luna to talk to her about normal things, like the annoyance of parents.

The other girl began to scare her, however, when it seemed Luna believed in this a little too much. Things took on a much different meaning at night. But the blonde-headed girl would not go back, Ginny knew, and she would get lost if she tried to find the way back herself.

The cave was actually smaller than she had expected, with small slivers of light way, way deep in the darkness. Luna went and Ginny followed, keeping a small hand on the wall for balance.

Strange as it was, she wasn't surprised to find the tea set in the cave. Apparently, her sister had been here many times before.

"Tea and biscuits?" Luna asks, sitting cross-legged on the cave floor and getting her mother's clothes properly filthly.

"Please," she said daintily, picking the tea cup up and remembering to stick out her pinky while sipping.

"I didn't pour it yet." Luna sounded frustrated, her voice losing its dreamy quality, and Ginny held out the cup towards her companion, a little put out herself. What did it matter, really? Her friend poured her a glass and old, green rain water filled the small rose tea cup. She wrinkled her nose, and looked into the cup, about to make a joke.

Luna drank from her cup, and that efficiently silenced Ginny. She looked away because it was rude to stare. She pretended to sip, to get past the moment, but kept her lips closed to the water.

"Is this tea set your mother's, Luna?"

"I found it here. I imagine long lost lovers met here on a secret tryst. Then he left her because she was a witch. It wasn't a secret anymore, so that made it ugly."

Ginny blinked, opening her mouth to say something but nothing came out.

"Let's start the ceremony." Luna picked up a rock, ready to cut the tip of her finger

"Shouldn't we just use a little pin to prick our fingers?" Ginny inquired quickly.

"Oh, that would just fade with time. Marks tell all kind of stories. Did you know that You-Know-Who put marks on his followers?"

If anything could have ruined the frivolous mood Ginny was in, that was most definitely it.

"SHHHH!" Ginny hissed. "Don't you dare say his name!"

Here, of all places, in a dark cave where no one knew where they were, the girl was threatening to invoke his name.

"I'm using the safe word, silly. Anyway, think of Harry Potter. He has a mark, too. On his forehead." She traced a shape onto her own forehead, giving Ginny quite a picture. "They say that You-Know-Who couldn't die, and with that mark, he would be linked to life, as long as the Boy-Who-Lived breathes. Isn't that a grand story?"

"I think it's horrible."

"It is, isn't it?" Luna said thoughtfully. "But we should use a rock--something with edges--so it will definitely leave a mark."

"I…I guess. All right."

"Your arm, please."

Ginny lifted up the long sleeves of the robe, and leaned forward.

"What should our mark be, then?"

Ginny didn't care. "How about a bird? Or something like that?"

"Two circles, the sun and the moon. How's that sound?" It wasn't really a question.

"Small circles," Ginny said warningly, more worried about how it'd look.

"Look away, and think happy thoughts. This will hurt a bit."

She brought the sharp point of the rock to Ginny's skin, and began her work, once more sticking her tongue out in concentration. No redo this time, Ginny thought nervously. It hurt, that was for sure. She bit down on her tongue, feeling Luna's fingers clamped around her wrist, occasionally pulling her closer. However, at first, it seemed like Luna wasn't going to pierce her skin, and that was quite fine, thank you very much. Let her draw meaningless circles if she wanted to.

Then after teasingly drawing a circle only just so, the girl pressed down fiercely, and Ginny gasped. It was quick and it was done, but Ginny snatched her arm back anyway. She looked to see two small circles standing out clearly against her pale skin.

"Now, for me."

"I'll do it," she said, willing to inflict the same pain.

"I can do it myself," Luna answered lightly. "I draw circles all the time."

"I guess you would since you talk in them too."

Luna didn't gasp, but it seemed that she was being much rougher with herself. She wanted it to be perfect, after all.

"Oh! That reminds me. Noman says he knows something about how to make a mark stay."

Ginny stared openly.

"My imaginary friend. He's says there are many different ways to leave a mark. I like this way because it is the prettiest."

"So our arms will rot off." She was being mean, but she was angry as well and that was enough.

"We have nothing to hide. I want to show people our relation. We still have to mix blood."

"Don't worry about that, I still haven't stopped bleeding." She was about to cry.

"I have to be quiet a lot, you know. I don't get to speak often. When I say something, I mean it. I want you to be my sister, Ginny. We don't have to be nice to each other."

"What is a sister to you?"

Luna considered this. "A sister means that I'm not so lonely anymore."

"All right. Even if we don't have to be nice…that would make being nice extra-special, wouldn't it? That we don't have to be, and we are."

"But you could still go away."

"I'm more likely to stay if you are nice to me."

Ginny didn't bother to say that her father would be picking her up within the week, or that after this, she would not be visiting often.

"It makes more sense, though, that we know every part of each other. Even the not-so-nice parts. I was told that you could learn so much more about a person when they are cruel. And it's easy to be nice to people you care nothing about."

She was shaking her head, and yet…

"Your arm."

Ginny relented. They mixed blood, and she felt like she was walking a tight rope. What if whatever made Luna drink nasty old rainwater and talk to invisible peeping Toms was contagious? What if it was in the blood, in the air?

Her older brother, Fred, had whispered to his twin something about 'being barmy' when her father had mentioned the Lovegood family. What if she went barmy from this?

"It's done. Now that you are family, it's all right for you to meet my friend. I won't have my sister be rude, you know."

"I don't think I could hurt his feelings," Ginny said dryly, looking down at her arm once more. A bit of Luna's blood still outlined the criss-crossed circles. Her vision had turned to fading spots, little pinpricks from being in the dark for too long. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw something move.

A bird, perhaps? A bat, more likely. Then Luna waved suddenly, almost upsetting the tea set.

"Noman, Noman, Noman!" she cried, hitting her fists on the ground three times. "Over here!"

The name grated on her nerves, and she was extremely annoyed at this girl and her silly line up of delusions. The twit had even named her own figments Nobody and No Thing, for crying out loud.

"That's a stupid name for a supposedly real person," Ginny retorted.

"That's not why!" Luna sang out, her mood only growing more frenzied. "He's much more than a man!"

"Hmph!" she sniffed, crossing her arms. She was too old to be playing silly children's games like this.

Then she saw it.

The cave had been grey-ish dark. Near the opening, there was one place that was pitch black, and it seemed to be…moving. Her heart seemed to stop in response, and she sat, frozen in her position. A cold disbelief crept up in the back of her mind, but then, she was still a child. By daring to disobey, something had come to punish them, the something that had been waiting for her all her life under beds and behind the dresser.

Her mind seemed to curl into itself, locking like a vise, as the shadow crept across the cave wall towards them.

"We-…" _Actually summoned something evil. _

"Noman, would you like some tea? It's fresh, and I made it just for you."

Luna hummed a cheerful song as she poured the green water out into the cup, something dark and moldy floating at the top, and Ginny fought with every ounce of her willpower not to be sick right there and then. She would have to move to retch, and it would notice her.

The thing settled down in between the two of them. She felt it, she felt eyes upon her, staring straight into her, something at the locked door of her mind, scratching to get in, easing its way in.

"Oh, her? This is Ginny. Yes, she is very pretty. I like her hair, so much fun to play with…what?"

Luna tilted her head, confusion flittering across her features. "I don't know what that means."

Ginny's ears burned, a sure sign that she was being talked about. Pretty obvious, really.

The girl laughed, and laughed. "She's shhhhyyyy," Luna announced, with a lilt. One part of her wanted to deny this, to scream out in rage, because whatever was in her in the cage was reading her, and in an odd way, she didn't want to be a disappointment. The other part of her was still being quiet enough to hopefully fade away, a foolish and forgotten animal instinct.

"Oh, she can't leave. Look at what I did!" Proud of making a mess, Luna grabbed the girl's arm and displayed the two circles. "Now she has to do what I say, like a real friend would."

It was fun to imagine something there that was not. Until something as quick as a spider alighted on her arm—a touch from the tip of a finger. This spark united her divided halves as one with such ferocity that she was screaming before she realized it.

She pulled away, and started to run for the opening of the cave. It seemed that every single stone and crevice in the cave floor reached out to catch her, and she was running so slowly that it was no surprise when she actually tripped.

The tail made of scarves caught on something, and it wrapped around her waist like a boa constrictor. Gasping in pain, she turned around to yell, to hit, and to bite if necessary. Luna hadn't moved, sitting primly by the tea set and staring.

The end of the scarf was pressed against the cave floor with an invisible weight. She stopped thinking. She tore the precious material with her hands and fled.

She expected-deserved-to get caught again, because she had been very, very bad, and her mother had said bad girls usually get their noses taken in the middle of the night for being so noisy, and oh god, Luna was going to watch.

Ginny ran blindly out of the cave, and knew it had lost interest in her. But it was a shadow, and it could still catch her. On her arm, the touch burned, and then she realized she had probably been poisoned. Tears were streaming down her cheeks, and her lungs felt as if they were going to burst. She forced herself to run towards the lights in the downstairs of the Lovegood's house.

_If I can make it there, I'll be safe. Just make it, just make it. _

This mantra kept her moving until she stumbled into the doorway of the home. The house was a disaster.

The chairs in the entry way had been turned over, and the closet doors hung off their hinges, the clothes in them ripped and scattered like tissues. Her legs went weak and she collapsed. Cold with fear, she knew she couldn't run anymore.

"Mr…Mr. Lo-Lovegood," she whispered, digging her fingernails into the floor. "Oh, please, oh please."

It was not Mr. Lovegood who appeared on the stairway. It was Mrs. Lovegood, and Ginny knew, knew, knew without a doubt what had happened. The woman's face was so pale it was as if she hadn't been out in the sun for years, and there were circles under her eyes, as if she had holes for eyes. She wore lacy gloves, and they had bits of red patches on them.

Ginny retched, not being able to hold it in anymore.

The woman had gone mad. She had killed her husband. She had been looking for them to kill next, and Ginny had run right into her.

She really was going to die a horrible death, and she would never see her father again. Footsteps pounded from behind her, and Luna appeared, holding on frantically to the special wand that seemed to be pulling her along. Her scraggly hair was in tangles, and her eyes were light up with a deep delight.

_Probably thought the wand was leading her to a buried treasure, buried treasure all right_, Ginny's mind screamed.

Luna's mother had a wand in her hand, and Ginny vaguely realized that the woman had used a Summoning Charm. Then she didn't feel so stupid. The mad woman was going to find them anyway. This made her feel better, or at least, numb.

"Mum!" Luna chirped, slipping on the leftover bits of clothing and burned rug. "I-."

Madness was a terrible thing, and it was the scariest thing Ginny had ever seen in her life. She would live to see worse, much worse, but at the moment, she wanted to die when she saw Mrs. Lovegood's face change.

Her formerly calm expression broke into a black fury, her mouth curling into a snarl like an animal. She grabbed her daughter like a rag doll, digging her nails in the girl's shoulders, and shook her.

Luna's head flopped back and forth, and Mrs. Lovegood shrieked into the small, upturned face.

"NEVER TAKE ANYTHING FROM ME AGAIN, YOU LITTLE THIEF, YOU NEVER TAKE FROM ME, YOU BITCH!"

Ginny let out a low moan, and she felt her mind drowning with disbelief. But if she fainted, she would die for sure.

The mad woman dropped Luna, let her fall to the ground, and snatched the very special wand out of Luna's trembling hand.

There was a long moment of silence, where no one spoke. Luna sat up dazed, and looked around in confusion, as if wondering how things got like this. Then she broke into sobs herself when the pain caught up to her.

"Oh. Oh…_god._"

Mrs. Lovegood's face underwent another radical change. She blinked as if waking from a very deep sleep, and when she saw her child, she looked as if she were in pain.

"I'm—I'm so sorry."

She reached out a gloved hand for Luna, but the girl flinched away.

"I'm…Mummy has a…" The woman struggled to speak. "Has a headache. I'm…going to bed now. Yes, I think that is what I'll do."

The woman left them, climbing up the stairs and staring at nothing.

Ginny didn't know how long they remained downstairs. Minutes turned into hours, and she didn't dare move. It was Luna's tears that finally made her brave enough to stand up.

She walked towards the girl slowly, her legs feeling like rubber.

"It's all right," she said, hearing herself from very far away. She rubbed Luna's back in what she hoped was a comforting manner. Aside from the home's current state, it felt like none of it had happened. Surely, things like this just didn't happen. "You're all right. I have rows with my mum all the time."

"Really?" Luna choked out, making her black eyes even blacker as she rubbed them.

"Really. If you act really sad tomorrow, you might get a present. That's what I do."

"Oh."

They sat together a few moments more. Ginny waited for Mr. Lovegood to appear. She expected he would be angry at them at first, but after they had explained what had transpired, he'd be mad at his wife. Ginny expected to see a fight, a real screaming match, and she felt with firm judgment that Mrs. Lovegood most definitely deserved it.

Luna would get a hug. Ginny would get an apology and a 'Let's keep this whole ordeal our little secret'.

But he never appeared, and she had to fight away her previous impression that the man was dead.

"Luna, where's your Dad? I'd like to…ask him about his paper."

"He's in his study, he is not to be disturbed!" She curled her hands into little fists to emphasis her point. Ginny thought it was a little late for not being disturbed, no matter what the case may be. Secretly, she would have preferred to wait in this room forever. At least till her father came back and picked her up.

If the man really was dead…

She started making little plans in her head. They would check right now, and then—if he was very dead—they would have to walk to the Burrow. In the daylight, of course, but they would have to go. Luna wouldn't want to, but Ginny would make her. Instinctively, she knew the woman wouldn't come out of the house during the day, so they could make it.

"Come on, I have a feeling he'd like to see you."

"Really?" Luna repeated, but her eyes lit up with happiness. Ginny nodded. She followed Luna, and was surprised when the girl moved a piece of brick from the hearth. The hidden door—that looked exactly like the wall—slid open. She pretended to be excited for her friend's sake.

"Here it is."

The study door was quite ordinary, besides the puzzle pieces on the front that seemed to be a code for entry. Luna moved the pieces effortlessly, and this door clicked into place, ready to be opened.

"I'll just peak in to make sure he's awake."

Ginny stepped in front of Luna, and nudged the door open only just. He was collapsed over his desk. She gasped, clinging to the door for support. Then Artemus raised his head, blinked in her direction, and promptly went back to sleep.

"Oh, he's sleeping," Luna pointed out, peering over Ginny's trembling shoulder. "He doesn't like bed bugs. That's why he doesn't sleep in the room with mother."

Of course. So they would have to stay.

All Ginny Weasley knew was that she had never felt so very alone in her life.

&&&

Credits:

" And it's easy to be nice to people you care nothing about."

-Variation of Oscar Wilde's quote: One can always be kind to people about whom one cares nothing. (From The Picture of Dorian Gray)

-_Noman_ is a name from Greek mythology. Ulysses used a word that meant 'No man' or 'Nobody' as his name in order to trick Polyphemus.

"By daring to disobey, something had come to punish them, the something that had been waiting for her all her life under beds and behind the dresser."

-Variation of "She would have been a good woman if I hadn't been waiting for her all her life" is a quote from 'A Good Man is Hard to Find' by Flannery O'Connor.

This wasn't beta-read, so if there are mistakes, be sure to throw sticks and stones (in other words, let me know ;-).

-BB


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